Half a dozen lullabies

Club

30.06.2017 | Words by: Emma van MeyerenPhoto by: Bibian Bingen

Last weekender I was able to catch the final hour of Izabel’s 8hr set with Oceanic in the garden of de School. The Lullabies for Insomniacs label boss was sitting on a couch, vibing to the sounds of her seemingly endless collection of exceptional records.

The name of her label, hailing from her nightly radio show on Melbourne’s radio station PBS, does justice to her approach to sound: soothing but never sleepy. After finishing her studies in Sound Arts in Australia she moved to Amsterdam this year. She’s currently looking forward to a summer of festival gigs from Helsinki’s Flow Festival, Croatia’s Selectors Festival and Amsterdam’s Dekmantel Festival.

Seeing a DJ who loves their own set is probably one of my favorite sights and that’s exactly what Izabel showed at de School. In the warm and early morning the garden was her home and we were her guests. July first she’ll be back, this time to brace the dark corners of the club.

I asked Izabel to share some of her favorite tracks. She sent 4 tracks, then one more and then a special one. Here are her picks:

(Listen to the tracks on the left, or click on the track title to open in a new window.)

2. Q4U - CreepsPioneering punk in Iceland, Q4U took Kraftwerk’s riff from 'The Model' to go into a completely different (and darker) direction.

3. Moral - Dance of the DollsOn the title track of their first cassette, the synths of Ingolf Brown and vocals by Hanne Winterberg make for perfect synergy. "You will be standing there with all your hidden happiness..."

4. Cosey Fanni Tutti - Time to Tell Performing, writing and making music, some may know Cosey Fanni Tutti from her roles in avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey. 'Time to Tell' was released on cassette in the early 80's. As shocking, disrupting and provocative as her work was back then, the years have awarded her a well respected cult status, she is rather uncomfortable with. In an interview about her recently released memoir she told The Guardian: "I don't like acceptance. It makes me think I’ve done something wrong."

5. Wayne Smith - E20The only man on Izabel’s list comes in big with a rhythm that inspired many artists afterwards, from Little Danny to Horace Martin. Wayne Smith, who is most famous for his work with dub legend Prince Jammy, is also credited with pioneering ragga style reggae.

6. Brenda Ray - Hearts EntwineThe very special last pick is a romantic one, and also the only tune released in the 2000's. With apparent reggae influences produced and sang by Ray herself, the 'Walatta LP' this track is taken from is an impressive 17-track album for which Brenda Ray spent 10 years in the famous UK Naffi studios. Izabel will play De School on Saturday the 1st of July, along with the likes of Shackleton and Lucy. More info on Facebook.